About 34% of elderly U.S. residents who have long-term care insurance and claimed benefits used it last year to pay for in-home care, according to a study released last week by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, the AP/Baltimore Sun reports. Nearly 30% of long-term care payments in 2006 were for assisted living costs, and about 36% of payments were for nursing home care, the study found. Total payout for long-term care in 2006 amounted to $3.3 billion. Association Executive Director Jesse Slome said the key finding of the study was that "although long-term care insurance is closely linked in consumers' minds with nursing home care," people are more likely to use their long-term care insurance to pay for in-home care or assisted living facilities. The association estimates that about eight million U.S. residents have long-term care insurance through an individual policy or employer-sponsored plan. Slome said people who do not have a lot of savings, are uninsured or are Medicaid beneficiaries are more likely to choose nursing home care (AP/Baltimore Sun, 2/4).
In-Home Care Technology
The New York Times on Sunday examined innovations that help caregivers remotely monitor the health and activities of an elderly family member who lives independently. According to the Times, "With the number of older Americans growing rapidly, products and services to help adult children care for their parents are on the rise." For example, a home health alarm system called QuietCare can be used to monitor household activities, and the alarm company alerts the caregiver of any deviations from normal routines. Caregivers also can track the activities online. Another type of system called iCare Health Monitoring focuses on collecting specific health information, such as blood pressure, which can then be tracked online by caregivers and the elderly themselves. Nurses monitor the system but do not provide constant supervision. However, Robyn Stone, executive director of the Institute for the Future of Aging Services, said, "There are privacy and ethical issues" involved with in-home monitoring systems, and she recommends that the elderly consent to the monitoring. Caregivers also could hire geriatric care managers, who oversee family members' appointments, evaluate nursing homes or coordinate care between different health specialists, but the "industry is largely unregulated," according to the Times. According to Stone, "Technology can be a complement to human resources, but many of these do not obviate the need for humans" (Larson, New York Times, 2/4).
Posted on the KaiserNetwork.org
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